VIDEO: Cobham captures a happy New Year

Cobham’s Solo H264 HD transmitters were used by Dutch production house Airfilms Productions to capture the New Year’s fireworks display centred on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world.

Cobham’s Solo H264 HD transmitters were used by Dutch production house Airfilms Productions to capture the New Year’s fireworks display centred on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world.

Contracted by Elite Films in conjunction with Dubai Media (DMI) and end-client Emaar Properties, Airfilms used the Solo HD H264 to send data from two broadcast drones to a pair of Cobham ProRX receive stations installed in DMI’s OB van and ground base station for mixing and recording.

The resulting close-range aerial shots, from two different angles of the Downtown Dubai New Year’s Eve Gala, captured a combination of fireworks, LED light and laser beam displays on Burj Khalifa, resulting in a Guinness World Records title for World’s Largest LED-Illuminated Façade.

Airfilms productions managing director Bart Hartge said, “You only get one shot at a fireworks display. Couple that pressure with a world-record attempt and you have to be pretty confident in your equipment.

“We successfully used the drones for fireworks displays in the past, notably for Qatar’s National Day last year. We rehearsed in a similar, but more extensive fashion for the Dubai gala, without the fireworks of course. The quality and stability of the images are breath taking and can be readily seen online. It was a remarkable display that Cobham¹s technology helped us to capture flawlessly.”

Cobham regional sales director, Middle East and Africa , Neil Tomlinson, added, “The Solo HD H264 transmitter enables production teams to, literally, reach new heights, in this case a drone-side view of a world-class firework and illumination display. The reliability of the Solo HD H264 continues to open new possibilities to broadcasters and production teams for viewer engagement.”